Ski Trip #1

Jess, Tucker, David, Doug, Heather and I went skiing on Saturday for a day trip. Jess and I really wanted to go skiing so we did some research, planned at trip and invited whoever wanted to come. It ended up being an awesome day and very reasonably priced for everything we did, so… We’re going back next weekend!

After doing our research we were afraid that we needed to make a reservation for a group of 6 or 7 and kept trying but couldn’t get through. We tried calling on my Skype and Jess’ cell phone but still couldn’t get through. The internet here is always a little scratchy and difficult to hear so Jess and I called Michael in Raleigh and asked him to call the SkiBus place with my Skype but a better internet connection. Apparently we had him call at too late of an hour and he got yelled at by the Czech SkiBus lady and said it was a hysterical conversation. Even Michael got to be a part of our weekend and experience even in Raleigh.

We got up at 5 am to take the Metro all the way to some unknown bus stop. We blind fully searched for the signs saying SkiBus which we found after walking up some sketchy looking stairs in the pitch black across some type of deserted parking deck down some more stairs, still no lights to a row of buses labeled SkiBus. Apparently we have this amazing travel angel that eventually always leads us in the right direction. After being on the bus a lady came on and started speaking in Czech telling everyone what was going on and such. We all listened intently but understood nothing she said. After her whole speech she said are there any English speaking riders on the bus. All six of our hands shot straight up in the air. It was quite comical. She told us what we needed to know, especially what time to get back on the bus.

We made it to the ski resort and rented skis from a teeny tiny rental place. We didn’t know any measurements in the metric system so telling them our height and weight was comical as well. It was such a small place that everyone who rented just left their shoes under the benches no lockers or anything. After this was all said and done we were starving and had to have food. The first place we came to was what we got. Breakfast of Champions: Fried Cheese, like mozzarella sticks but one whole huge one like a hamburger patty, and French fries and a Fanta, and the boys got a hot dog and fries. It was only 10 am…

The next interesting occurrence was the T-bar lift that went behind you and against your legs as it pulled you up the mountain. For skiers it wasn’t too difficult but for those snowboarding, they seemed to have problems and Jess fell off the lift 5 times. J The runs were nice and wide though, pretty steep, but doable. There weren’t too many people there, which was really nice, and there were barely lines to get on the lifts.

We rode a chair lift to the top of the mountain and at the top we were completely in the clouds. As you were trying to ski, you could only see about 10 feet in front of you and the air/sky was white and so was the snow. It was very interesting and you never knew when it was going to be really steep or if you were following the correct run and not going the wrong way. It was really cool being that high in the clouds though. After some of the clouds broke and we went to a different part of the mountain we got a great view of the area. It was really beautiful.

Overall it was a successful day, we skied, and made it home and no one was injured too badly. Maybe a few bumps and bruises but that’s all.